Maternal Instinct
by tempecameron
Summary: Dr. Temperance Brennan can handle remains that are thousands of years old, but can she keep up with one small child? BB fluff, Parker cuteness, relationship drama, weird author's notes.
1. A Favor

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of these characters or concepts. I am not making any money from this story.

**A/N:** I take full responsibility for any inaccuracies regarding forensic anthropology, FBI procedures, and inconsistencies with the show. I'm too lazy to do any research. This story is simply meant to be cute. So, enjoy, or read something else!

-

Dr. Temperance Brennan was in her office at the Jeffersonian doing exactly what Special Agent Seeley Booth expected from his favorite forensic anthropologist – squinting. Specifically, at what he could only assume was a bone fragment. Where her desk usually stood was a mound of textbooks and loose documents, three coffee cups, and a half-empty container of marshmallow Peeps. He shook his head and knocked twice on the door frame.

"Booth, I don't have time for a case right now," she said without looking up.

"What is that, mirrors? Radar? ESP?"

"Tin can telephone to Angela's office," she replied, eyes not leaving the specimen.

"Bones, did you just tell a joke? And what is this confection you're eating? If I didn't know better, I'd say we had an invasion of the body-snatchers on our hands."

Now she did look up. "I don't know what that means."

He sighed and grinned, walking to her desk to help himself to one of the yellow sugar-coated chicks. "Mmmm, a few days old, just the way I like 'em. How long have you been in this office, Bones?"

She shot him her customary glare at the nickname and tilted her head to the side to crack her neck. "I don't know, since Monday morning some time?"

"Well, it's Tuesday afternoon now, and I need a favor."

"Booth, I really don't have time for a case. These Guatemalan remains need to be identified, and I have to oversee a project for Zach, and my publisher has already called three times this week–"

He silenced her with a soft palm against her lips, succeeding more for the shock factor than the pressure. "Whoa there, killer. It's not a case, it's just a … favor. For an admirer."

"And just how did you select one out of your many devoted groupies upon whom to bestow said favor?"

"Funny!" he said sarcastically. "But this is actually for one of _your_ admirers."

"Please, not another obsessed reader, I'm not in the mood for this."

"Well, unless you count Dr. Seuss, I wouldn't really say that…"

Booth's words were cut off by the cadence of sneaker-clad feet whose owner burst through the door of her office and wrapped one four-year-old arm around his father's leg as the other hand clutched a sheet of paper. "Daddy, the lady with the funny earrings drew this picture of me!"

Booth hoisted his son up with one arm and studied the quick but recognizable sketch with a smile. "Did you say thank you to Angela?" he asked. Parker nodded and turned his attention to Dr. Brennan.

"Are you the bone lady?" he asked. Brennan smiled at the epithet, but Booth turned to his son and pressed his forehead against the child's with a serious expression.

"Now, Parker, this is Dr. Brennan. Remember how I told you how smart she is, and how hard she worked in school so she can help us catch the bad guys?" Parker nodded again and wiggled out of his father's arms. Temperance came out from behind her desk and crouched so she could meet the gaze in his soft brown eyes.

"Hello, Parker," she said, extending her hand.

He shook it solemnly with his own slightly sticky fingers, then crossed his arms over his chest in a perfect imitation of his father. "Do you really have dead people in here, Dr. Bones?"

Temperance chuckled, and Booth sighed. "Parker's staying with me for the week, and he really wanted a tour of the lab. And I know you're busy, and I know … tours … aren't really your thing, but will you do this for me? Please?" He gave her his most adorable expression.

Brennan narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't even bother with the puppy-dog face. I'd love to give him a tour."

"How come you never say yes to me that quickly?" he asked.

"Because he's better-looking that you are," she countered, leading Parker out of her office by the hand.

-

**A/N: **Reposted to correct an obvious error in the first sentence, as pointed out by my 16-year-old brother. Thanks, K.


	2. A Phone Call

A/N: Wow… I never expected so many reviews, or that I would love the attention so much. I guess I'm just an adoration junkie after all! Thanks for the feedback - especially to everyone who told me their favorite lines. I hope to update every few days with short chapters.

Seeley Booth watched as Dr. Brennan led his son around the lab, pointing out equipment with her free hand while the other remained in Parker's grasp. She lifted him up to examine a skeleton, and Booth saw Parker's eyes go wide with delight as he pointed to the bare, grinning skull and asked Temperance a question. She laughed and smoothed his hair absently away from his face as she answered, and Booth smiled, wondering where this relaxed, affectionate Bones had come from. Now Parker was on his tiptoes watching Dr. Brennan explain the workings of a high-powered microscope, and Booth tried not to groan_. Just what I need, a squint for a son, _he thought, but he couldn't hide his own grin at Parker's bubbling excitement. When his cell phone went off, he turned away reluctantly. "Booth."

Across the lab, Temperance watched Booth pull out his phone, and saw the pleasure on Parker's face evaporate in an instant. "What's the matter, big guy?" she asked.

Parker fidgeted with the lining on his jacket. "When that phone rings, it usually means that Daddy has to go do something for the FBI. And he can't take me with him, even though he wants to, 'cause it would be real dangerous."

Tempe nodded seriously and pulled the child into her lap on one of the lab stools. "You're lucky to have a daddy who works so hard to catch the bad guys."

"That's what Mommy tells me." Parker's fingers played with Dr. Brennan's silver necklace. "But sometimes she looks real angry when she says it."

_Smart kid_, she thought. "You know, Parker, when I first met your daddy, it was hard for me to understand his work with the FBI. And sometimes he made me very, very angry." She smiled at the memory of those early days, then continued. "Then I found out that he is the bravest, kindest man in the whole world, and I feel so lucky that I get to be his partner." She considered for a moment, then added, "But sometimes I miss him when he has to do FBI stuff, too."

Booth hung up just in time to hear his son ask, loudly enough for the entire lab to hear, "Do you have a ring in your belly button like Daddy's other girlfriend?"

"Okay, Parker, I think we should thank Dr. Brennan for the tour now!" Agent Booth was at his son's side in four steps, trying to cover his embarrassment with a casual laugh. "How about we go get some chocolate milkshakes?"

"But Daddy…" Parker gave Booth a plaintive look that Temperance recognized immediately, and she smothered a chuckle. Like father, like son.

"Parker," Booth said, regarding his son evenly, "Remember how I said that B- uh, Dr. Brennan is a special friend of mine? Well, I didn't mean like a girlfriend. She's… my partner."

"Well, she's prettier than Tessa," replied Parker with a four-year-old's candid honesty. Booth considered strangling his son, or at least investing in a roll of duct tape, but Brennan intervened.

"Your daddy's right, Parker," she said. "We're just … special friends." She leaned closer so she could stage-whisper in his ear. "But you were right, too. Wanna see?"

Parker nodded and Booth tried not to let his jaw hit the ground at the sight of Dr. Temperance Brennan, serious-minded, straight-laced, world-renowned forensic anthropologist, raising the hem of her shirt to reveal a delicate silver butterfly charm in her navel. "Cool!" pronounced Parker, his eyes glowing with unconditional adoration. Brennan met Booth's eyes over his son's sandy hair and he turned away abruptly. Bones didn't need to know he had been having seriously un-partnerlike thoughts about her abdomen with his son only a few feet away.

"Parker, why don't you go talk to my friend Zack for a minute," Brennan suggested. "Ask if you can see his bug collection."

Suitably distracted, Parker scampered off, and Temperance returned her attention to his father. "Pretty smooth," she murmured. "He's gonna be a handful when he hits puberty."

Booth laughed. "That, Bones, is why they make excellent all-male boarding schools in Switzerland."


	3. A New Case

**A/N: **Hey, kids. Sorry about the wait and the shortness of the proceeding chapter, but I'm kinda writing this story backwards (bad habit) so I have most of the second half done and am trying to catch up. New episode on Wednesday! w00t! -tc

-

"So what was the phone call about?" Brennan asked.

Booth sighed and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "New case. Nothing for you guys, but they want me in right away."

"Parker was right," she murmured, then shook her head at his questioning look. "What about your son?"

"See, that's the thing," he replied. "I obviously can't take him with me, and this is probably my only full week with him. _Damnit!_" He kicked the corner of a table violently and grimaced as the pain shot up his leg.

"Can't you just tell them no? Didn't you ask for vacation time or something before you agreed to take him?"

He checked to make sure Parker was still out of earshot. "Serial killer. Targeting children."

And maybe it was months of experience, maybe the unspoken bond that had grown between them, or maybe just the hardened look on Booth's face, but Temperance understood. She put a hand on his shoulder. "So what are you going to do? Bring him back to his mom's until this blows over?"

He shrugged helplessly, then an inspired grin took over his face and had her stepping back, both hands raised. "No. Oh, no. Booth, I meant what I said before. I've got my book, and the project, and what am I supposed to do with a child all day, and _would you please stop making that face at me?_"

"I don't know what that means," he teased, widening his eyes even more innocently.

"That look, the one you're always giving me when you're trying to get me to do something I don't want to do. Which, by the way, is most of the time."

"Come on, Bones – Temperance – I know you're great with kids. I saw you with Shawn Cook, remember? You're the only one who could get him to open up about what happened to his brother. And look how great you are with Parker already! You don't even have to _do_ anything with him. He's got his DS, he can just sit on the couch in your office while you do whatever crucial, brilliant, emotionally fulfilling activities you had planned for today."

When her gaze didn't waver, he leaned a bit closer and whispered suggestively. "I'm not asking you to give him a little brother or sister. Just keep him out of trouble for a few hours. Okay?"

It worked. "Fine, whatever. But you owe me. I want that gun, Booth!"

He just grinned. "Are you asking me to give up my firstborn in exchange for a firearms license? Because, per FBI policy, I'm not really authorized to negotiate with terrorists." Before she could change her mind, he placed a quick kiss on her cheek. "Thanks, Bones. Let me go tell Parker, and I'll leave you the spare key to my apartment so you can bring him by after work. Oh, and ah, he's allergic to peanuts, just FYI. Also he doesn't really like to go into the men's room alone, so if you could maybe send Zack or Hodgins... okay, maybe Zack... well, I'm sure everything will be just fine. Hey, there's my big guy!"

And Temperance was left frustrated and speechless, as usual. She watched father and son deep in conversation and smiled as they exchanged goodbyes, Parker whining his way into two extra hugs and a lollipop from Booth's pocket before the FBI agent managed to get out of the building.

"Parker," said Brennan to herself, "if you're even half as difficult to keep out of trouble as your father, this could be a very long afternoon."

She sighed and decided she'd better start by finding out what the heck a DS was.


	4. A Conversation with Angela

**A/N**: For anyone who was as confused as Dr. Brennan at the end of the last chapter, don't feel bad - I have two teenage brothers, which is the only reason I'm in the loop about such things. The following is short but sweet (just like me?). Enjoy! -tc

A DS was, apparently, a handheld electronic gaming device, and true to Booth's word, it kept Parker completely occupied for several hours, all the while making bizarre electronic noises that were only mildly distracting. Brennan couldn't help looking over every few minutes anyway to check on the small figure sprawled face down on her couch, his serious features a mirror of his father's. When she looked up at 4:30, Parker had fallen asleep, his head threatening to slide off the edge of a cushion while his back rose and fell gently. Brennan pulled an extra sweater out of her closet, pried the child's fingers off his game, and tucked him in before creeping out of the room to find her best friend.

Angela was in her office, sketching intently. She looked up at Brennan's knock. "Hey, Bren. Don't tell me you lost the kid already."

Temperance glared. "No, he's sleeping." She sunk down in a chair and buried her face in her hands. "Ange, how did I let him talk me into this?"

"I don't know, hon. Although, if I had to guess, I'd say he either set the puppy dog face on you until you broke down, or gave you that devilishly handsome grin and embarrassed you with a bit of sexual innuendo."

The heap of brown hair on her desk moaned. "Both."

Angela just smirked. "He totally wants you. Good thing you're too stuck on him to notice ... ow!"

Tempe was still holding the notebook in case a second attack was needed. "Would you please let go of this obsession with my sex life? Booth and I are not going to end up together. Today's little drama should be evidence enough of that. Booth is completely devoted to his son; it's obvious that whatever woman he chooses would be expected to give him more children, and he deserves that – the big family, house in the suburbs, toys on the lawn. It'll make him happy. And that's just not me, Ange. I've seen way too much of this world to want to bring another child into it. Besides, you know me – I'm a reclusive workaholic. Last night, while Booth was probably watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Rabbits and making popcorn with his son, I was sleeping at the lab. With dead people. Our lives are completely incompatible, and I don't see how that could ever change." She frowned and waited for her friend's snappy reply.

Angela just stared, open-mouthed. "Oh my God." She leaned forward, chin on her hands, and seemed unable to speak for almost a minute. "Oh my God, Bren, you've really thought about this. You, Booth, the Big Picture. All along I thought this was just about chemistry and some sweaty sex fantasies, but you're seriously into him."

"Angela!" Tempe got up to pace the office, completely exasperated. "Were you listening to a word I said? Because first of all, you're the only one having sex fantasies about the two of us-" _because a handful of clearly unwanted dreams don't count_, she told herself, "-and second of all, it doesn't matter whether I've thought about the future, because as I just finished explaining to you, it's not going to happen!"

"Future?"

"What?"

"You just said future."

"You said it first."

"No, I said Big Picture. You said future."

"Ange, what's the difference?"

"Big Picture is what's happening now. Future is what you _want_ to happen."

"I don't want anything to happen; I just told you that!"

"No, Tempe, you said nothing _could_ happen. It's okay to want things that might never come to pass, y'know."

"I know that, Ange."

"Do you, sweetie? Because I look at you, and I see a woman who's been incredibly successful because she knows how to get what she wants. Smart, works her hot little ass off, kicks the crap – intellectually or physically – of anyone who gets in her way. And I love that about you, Tempe, you know I do. But I'm just wondering ... what if there's something the amazing Dr. Temperance Brennan wants, but can't study or fight or reason her way into? You're so good at meeting your goals, but what about dreams? What do you dream about, Bren?"

And since the only dream that was coming to mind happened to feature a very handsome and very naked FBI agent, Brennan decided to cut her losses. "I should go make sure Parker is still asleep."

"Mmmhmm," replied Angela knowingly. "Oh, and Bren?"

"Yeah?"

"They're turtles. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Although kids these days are more into SpongeBob."

"Huh?"

"Just trust me. Go check on your future stepson."

"I hate you, Ange."

"Love you too, sweetie."


	5. A Burger AND Fries AND a Shake

**A/N: **FINALLY, finally, this chapter and I resolved our differences. And then I had to figure out what to do after last night's episode, which was so bloody amazing I couldn't sleep and also brought out all of these things in the BB ship that maybe took it further than where I was coming from in this fic, but eventually I decided, screw it, I'm gonna keep going basically like I planned and see what happens. Also, I almost peed my pants when B&B were dancing to _Hot Blooded_. Just thought I'd share.

So for all of my reviewers who have requested it, here's a good-sized chapter that includes Parker being cute about Bones, Bones being cute about Parker and Booth, and Booth being totally f-ing hot. Um, I mean, being cute about Bones. Yay cute. Love you all. -tc

-

Parker was still sleeping when Dr. Brennan returned to her office, but a half hour later he was awake and hungry. Since Booth wasn't answering his phone, she figured he must still be out in the field. And probably ignoring her calls.

"All right, big guy," she said reluctantly. "It looks like you and I have a dinner date."

"Can I put on cologne?" asked an eager Parker.

"What do you know about cologne?"

"Daddy says cologne is only for dates, and that's why I don't need any until I'm thirty-five."

"I see," she said, trying to swallow a chuckle, and her curiosity got the best of her. "Does, ah, does your dad go on a lot of dates?"

"No, he's real busy with work," the boy replied, reaching for Brennan's hand as they left the office. The instinctive gesture startled her, but she had to admit that there was a part of her that was pleasantly surprised at Parker's unconditional affection. Especially since his father could be so guarded... but she had resolved not to think of her partner that way after the earlier fiasco with Angela. Right. No un-work-related thoughts about Seeley Booth. She could do this.

"How do you feel about burgers?" she asked Parker.

-

An hour later they were at Fuddruckers, where Parker had devoured not only his burger, but also all of his fries and half of Brennan's. He was currently working his way through a chocolate shake and simultaneously attempting to teach 'Dr. Bones' to balance a spoon on her nose.

"No, see, you hafta breath on it first, and then you put your head back like this..."

Brennan's spoon went flying, causing Parker to burst into uncontrollable giggles, which sent _his_ spoon sliding into his milkshake. Temperance laughed as Parker pulled out the utensil to lick it clean. "Did your dad teach you that trick?" she asked, swabbing somewhat futilely at Parker's face with a napkin.

"Uh-huh. Daddy teaches me lots of things," he answered with an unmistakable swell of pride. "He takes me to see the planes and the spaceships AND one time we went in a submarine!"

"Sounds like you're a very lucky boy."

"Did Daddy ever take you to see the submarine?" he asked innocently.

"Well, no, your daddy and I just work together. We don't really do anything... fun."

Parker looked shocked. Apparently, Daddy was the most fun person in the whole world and any deviant behavior was unimaginable. "Not EVER?" he asked. "Not even Game Cube?"

Not having any idea what a GameCube was, Brennan had to assume it was more fun than its geometric moniker would suggest. "Nope, no GameCube."

"I thought you and Daddy were special friends," pouted an increasingly skeptical Parker.

"Well, we are friends, but we like to do... grownup things together." She shoved a few naughty thoughts out of her mind and hoped that her unintentional double entendre was lost on the four-year-old. "We, uh, go to dinner sometimes. With our other friends."

"Do you go to Mr. Sid's?"

"Yes, we do."

"Oh, okay," said a visibly relieved Parker. "I like Mr. Sid. He gives me chocolate milk. Do you have chocolate milk at your house, Dr. Bones?"

"Umm, I don't think so," she replied.

"Do you have toys?"

"No, but... I have a lot of books."

"The books you write?"

She looked up, surprised. "How did you know I wrote books?"

"Daddy told me. He showed me all of your books yesterday and I saw your picture too."

"He showed you the picture in the back of the books?" Temperance cringed at the thought of the staged, airbrushed glamour shot.

"And a different picture. Next to his bed," answered Parker, trying to reach the last few drops of milkshake at the bottom of his glass.

_Next to his bed?_ Brennan couldn't even remember Booth taking a picture of her and had no idea where he would have gotten one.

"Is, um, is Angela in the picture, too?"

"No," he replied, licking his spoon. "Just you, only you're not old."

_Not old?_ Then it hit her – her childhood photo, the one from the file on her parents' disappearance. What was he doing keeping it next to his bed? It was probably nothing. Maybe he had a desk next to his bed and that's where he kept the file. Maybe he was a lousy housekeeper, and had just left the folder right where he'd thrown it the night she'd given it to him. Maybe Parker didn't have any idea what he was talking about. How developed could a four-year-old's spatial-relational memory be, anyway? 'Next to' could mean, 'in the next room', and maybe he didn't mean 'bed,' he meant 'couch,' and _seriously, Brennan, get ahold of yourself, you went through this already when you first caught him looking at the file, it's just a picture, it doesn't mean anything,_ she thought. And ignored the teeny, whining voice (that was most certainly Angela's and not her conscience) saying, _but don't you wish it meant everything?_

Fortunately, it was drowned out by another voice that _couldn't_ be ignored: namely, Parker's. "Dr. Bones, I'm all done. Can we go play at your house now?"

"I just told you that I don't have any toys at my house," she replied, making one last attempt to remove ketchup and ice cream from Parker's face. "I don't even have a television."

"But we can read books and you can show me all the pictures of the bones you look at. And you can tell me the story of when you shot that man and Daddy said you couldn't have a gun and it's okay because I can't have a gun either because they're dangerous."

"It sounds like your father already tells you too many stories," she chuckled wryly, helping him into his jacket.

"He told me about how your mommy and daddy had to go away a long time ago and it made you really sad but then you got to be a scientist and you look at the bones all day and the dead people and sometimes they look scary but you're not scared of ANYTHING!"

Tempe had to smile at this brief biography. "Daddy said that, huh?"

"Uh-huh. And sometimes he gets scared when there are bad guys and he can't find them but then you look at the bones and you tell him what to do and it's okay."

_That's it_, thought Temperance, scooping Parker into an impromptu hug. _I have to get rid of this kid before I turn into a huge pile of mush._

-

A half hour later, they were letting themselves into Booth's apartment. "Daddy!" squealed Parker, and Tempe looked up to see her partner emerging from another room in flannel pants and a t-shirt, his hair damp. Tying to ignore the voices in her head, which were keeping up a jarring chorus of _run run run _and _TOUCH TOUCH TOUCH_, she attempted a neutral smile and set Parker's backpack down on the couch. Father and son were deep in conversation, and she could hear Parker exclaiming, "AND French fries AND a milkshake!"

"Why don't you go play in your room before bath time," his father suggested, and Parker complied, but not before another hug for Temperance as he thanked her for "the best day EVER!".

When they were alone, Tempe noticed for the first time how tired her partner looked. "Tough case?" she asked, knowing the answer already.

He nodded. "Yeah. Nothing I haven't seen before, but... well, even experience doesn't make this job any easier sometimes."

"I know," she said simply and honestly, resting a hand on his arm before she could stop herself.

He smiled, weakly, but she thought she saw some of the tension drain from his shoulders. "I don't know what I would have done without you to take Parker. I know you didn't really want to, and you did anyway, and, well, that really means a lot to me."

She remembered his words from that night at Sid's. "You'd do the same for me, right?"

He understood perfectly, and grinned. "Yeah." They stood silent a moment longer, her hand resting lightly at his elbow, his lips curved, brown eyes considering her wide blue ones, until Brennan broke the contact.

"So, did you need me to take Parker tomorrow, too?" she asked, fidgeting with the edge of her jacket.

Booth was trying not to miss the gentle pressure of her hand. "Yeah, I mean, I hate to ask, but it would really help me out."

"Sure, no problem," she replied. "I mean, it's not... ideal, but, yes, you know I'll take him as long as you need me to."

"Of course, it might be hard to top the best day ever," he teased.

"Right, well, I think your son is just easy to win over," she said dismissively. _Unlike his father_. "Besides, it didn't hurt that you told him all of these ridiculously exaggerated stories about me and our exploits."

"I didn't have to exaggerate _that_ much," he replied, tracing one finger along the faint scar on her forehead, a reminder of the night he had rescued her from the warehouse. And because that memory was too painful for both of them, he dropped his hand and tried for a casual smile. "He really seems pretty taken with you."

_That's what Angela keeps telling me_ Tempe thought, suppressing a shiver at his delicate touch. "All I did was let the kid sleep in my office and buy him a milkshake."

"Bones, maternal instinct goes both ways. You can go on telling me that you have no desire to have children, and maybe you really believe it, but you can't fool a child. Parker likes you because he knows, instinctively, that you're someone he can trust. Someone who will take care of him the best she can – even if she doesn't have a TV. It's not something I had to tell him. It's just a feeling."

"So do the men in your family do _all _of their thinking with their guts, or do you employ another organ from time to time?"

He had to swallow hard and remind himself that the odds of Dr. Brennan making an intentional sexual reference were microscopic at best. "We've been known to use our brains from time to time. Delay judgement. Examine the evidence. Which is why I'm gonna let this drop now, because I'm willing to bet that by the end of the week, Bones, you'll have changed your mind and be dreaming about having a child of your own."

"No thanks," she laughed. "I'm more than content to have yours." This time, she _did_ realize what she'd said, and her face flushed. "Your son. Parker. For the week. Um, I should go. Can you, um, tell him good night? Parker? I'll be at the lab early so just, you know, bring him by whenever, and we'll, um, he can, uh, right, I'll see you in the morning," she finished, hoping that if she left as quickly as possible, this moment would end up slightly less than excruciatingly awkward.

It was a good plan, and probably would have worked if she hadn't walked into the door on her way out.

-

**A/N: **Fuddruckers is real. They have the best burgers ever.


	6. An Appetite

**A/N: **I am a bad, bad ff user. I read and read and never update my own story. I'm a literary parasite! In order to make up for it, I shall attempt the death-defying Three Chapter Post this weekend. Here's the first, which is mostly a teaser for chapter 7, currently in progress on my computer.

Also, I really need to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed and read. I probably appreciate it more than I should. And who knew that there were so many closet Fuddruckers fans out there? To answer your questions, nope, not from Wisconsin (although I do say 'bubbler'), have only been to a few in the DC area while visiting family, Ed Debevic's is quite awesome as well but not as good, IMHO.

On with the fluffiness! -tc

-

"How long have you been here this morning?" asked a soft, deep voice.

Temperance looked up from her computer screen to find the FBI agent in the doorway of her office, sleeping child in his arms.

"I don't know. What time is it?"

He shifted his hold on Parker so he could look at his watch. "Almost 8:30."

She mentally calculated. _Gave up on trying to concentrate on my manuscript at 11, tossed and turned until 12:30, slept maybe three hours, half hour for a cold shower, another half hour for the drive made it 4:30... _"Oh, only about 45 minutes."

He didn't seem to be buying it but asked no questions. Instead, he stretched Parker out on the couch and smoothed back the boy's hair. "We stayed up a little late with the PS2 playing Katamari Damacy, so he'll probably be conked out for at least an hour."

"I don't know what that... never mind, I probably don't want to know."

"That's my girl," he said, chucking her lightly under the chin. Brennan fought the urge to stumble backwards from his touch. _Stay calm, Bren. He'll be out of your office in two minutes and then you can be awkward and confused all day without him knowing._

"What time will you be home?" she asked, retreating as nonchalantly as possible as he pulled a small fleece blanket out of Parker's knapsack and spread it over the child.

"I'm not sure. It'll probably be after dinner again. Oh, I left some cash in an envelope with Parker's stuff. It should take care of anything you need."

"Booth, don't be silly; you don't have to do that."

"Don't argue, Bones. Besides, the boy will eat you out of house and home if you let him."

"Must have gotten that appetite from his father," she teased.

Booth seriously hoped that his son had not yet developed an appetite for the flavor that was driving him a little crazy with desire at that particular moment. Unprofessional thoughts about the attractive though often abrasive Dr. Brennan were strictly verboten, but it was too early in the morning to ignore the way her soft scent filled the office, had assaulted him at the doorway – how could something that was becoming so familiar be so enticing? - so that he'd paused, Parker in his arms, to watch her serious eyes focused singularly on the screen while her left hand fidgeted nervously with her hair. The dark circles under her eyes did nothing to detract from her soft, ethereal beauty. _I wonder if she got as little sleep as I did_ he mused. _Don't be an idiot, Seeley. Besides, it's just the case that kept you up. Not the image of your son with his arms around the woman you... work with._

Brennan decided that she must be imagining the confused and almost... hungry look she was getting from her partner."Well, thank you. Though speaking of house and home, would it be alright if I took him back to my place after work? He wanted to see it, and you could just swing by and pick him up there..."

"Sure," he replied with a wink. "Just don't let him get anything out of the fridge, okay?"

Instantly Booth knew he'd gone too far. All of the warmth and color were gone from Dr. Brennan's face and her jaw was set in a hard line. "I would never, ever put Parker in any danger," she said icily.

"Bones, I know, it was a joke, okay?" She didn't move, and he sighed. "A really shitty joke. Look, I'm sorry. You know that I trust you completely. I wouldn't leave my firstborn with just anyone. I know he's as safe with you as he is with me."

_Firstborn. As in, one of many._ "Booth... when that... the explosion... that was one of the worst moments of my life."

"It wasn't your fault," he said for what felt like the thousandth time. They'd had at least a dozen versions of this conversation since the accident, and never managed to make much progress.

"I know that, intellectually, I just... I don't like the idea that I can't always protect the people I... care about. These bones, these bodies that come in here... they're not people any more. Their families are real, and I do this job so I can give them the truth, closure, peace of mind. But I can't give anything to the ones who show up on my table. I know that my work is important, vital even, that it helps people. Since we've started working together, I've been able to help a few people _before_ it's too late, and... I like that. But what if it's not enough? What if the people I can't save..." she let her gaze rest on Parker's sleeping form before returning to meet his father's eyes, "...are the ones who... matter?"

Booth let out a slow breath and stepped forward, running his fingers lightly up and down her arm. He hadn't allowed himself this kind of contact with her since that night in the hospital room. It was just too... risky. "Bones, I don't have an answer for you. But I know that you are..." _how far was he willing to go? _"...the most intelligent, most dedicated, most pig-headed person I know. And if I can't trust you to do everything in your power to keep my son safe, I don't know who else could do it."

His delicate touch was sending shivers across her back, and his wide, honest eyes drew her in. Brennan might have replied, but the sound of a door opening and Zach and Hodgins's bickering made her pull away instead. "Thank you. I'll see you tonight, then?" He nodded, then just as he had the day before, placed a soft kiss on her cheek before walking out of the lab.

-

"Dr. Bones?" called a sleepy voice a while later.

"Hi, Parker," she replied. "Did you sleep well?"

"I'm thirsty," he answered, ignoring the question.

"Do you want some-" _coffee? diet coke?_ "-water?"

"I want a juice box," he replied petulantly, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

"Well, let's see what we have in your backpack," Brennan suggested, fairly certain she had no idea where to buy juice boxes.

Luckily, the backpack contained eight juice boxes, a package of granola bars, a large plastic container filled with orange fish-shaped crackers, and several tubes with the puzzling label "Go-Gurt". Parker selected a luminescent green one and an apple juice, then settled himself happily at Brennan's desk while she went in search of Angela and wondered whether Booth was merely an overprotective father or secretly meant to leave Parker with her for two weeks.

-

"Hey, Bren," her best friend said. "Was that a certain hunky FBI agent's progeny I saw sleeping on your couch again?"

"Yes. I think he'll probably be with me for the rest of the week unless Booth gets a break in his case."

"And yet you seem nowhere near as distraught as you did yesterday morning." Angela leaned forward, chin in her hands, and whispered conspiratorially. "Is his father providing some sort of special compensation that I should know about?"

"Ange!"

"Right, gotcha, it's one of those buy-now-pay-later arrangements. I'll check back at the end of the week."

"Angela Montenegro!"

"Ooooh, that was good. Use that tone on Parker if he's being naughty. Too bad you don't know his middle name, that's always pretty effective."

"Ange, I actually-"

"Speaking of naughty, I wonder what _Booth's_ middle name is..." When Tempe didn't even dignify the comment with a response, she gave up. "Sorry, sweetie. I'm a little man-deprived at the moment, and vicarious sexual tension is all I've got. Did you need something?"

"I was wondering if I could send Parker to you in about an hour. I have a consult with an etymologist from the Smithsonian, and I don't want to just leave him in my office alone. He shouldn't be any trouble; he has this Nintendo game thing and about a million snacks, and I'll be right down the hall if you need me, and-"

"Relax, Bren, it's cool. I'm just going over some cranio-facial reconstructions. Send him in whenever."

"Thanks, Ange."

"No prob. I might even refrain from telling Booth how you went all soccer mom on me just now. I know, I know," she interrupted as Temperance opened her mouth. "You don't know what that means."

-

**A/N: **More of my comments on life: Katamari is possibly the best non-PC video game ever; Go-Gurt is scary. That is all.


	7. A Day with the Squints

**A/N**: Okay, a third chapter is clearly not gonna happen this weekend, but I did work some on the ending, and this one got a bit out of hand anyway, so I'm hoping it suffices.

Things about which I know nothing: Angela's imaging thingy, insects, conspiracy theories. When I'm getting paid to write this stuff, I'll do research. Until then, enjoy the fluff! -tc

-

"What are you doing?"

Angela smiled at the young boy clutching a juice box and a gaming device. "Hiya, Parker. I'm calibrating a holographic imaging chamber."

"What does it do?"

"Well, it takes information and images – pictures, from my computer – and shows it on kind of a big screen in dots of light. Only it's not flat; you can see all of the sides."

"Is it for watching movies?"

"Not exactly. It helps us figure out what happened when someone is killed or injured. I can make a sort of make-believe movie of what we _think_ happened, using information that your daddy or Dr. Brennan gives me, and the computer lets us know whether it's a plausible scenario."

"What does calberating mean?"

"Calibrating. I'm checking the settings to make sure that it's working properly."

"Can I help?"

"How about you hang out at my desk and be my observer for a while." Parker followed her suggestion and pulled himself into the chair, legs swinging free off the edge as he slurped through his straw.

_And now, some questions of my own._ "Hey Parker?"

Slurp. "Uh huh?"

"Does your dad have a girlfriend?"

"Nope." Slurp. "He had a girlfriend before, but then she left 'cause they got sick."

"Sick?"

"Yeah, Daddy said they had irreconcilable differences. What's irreconcilable differences, Angela?"

"It's something that lawyers like to say."

"What's a lawyer?"

"That's what Tessa was. Is."

"Does it mean you smell funny?"

"Not necessarily. What did she smell like?"

"I dunno." Slurp. "Flowers and stuff. Dr. Bones smells better. And she looks at dead people AND she has a ring in her bellybutton!"

Angela suppressed a chuckle. "Does Daddy talk about, ah, Dr. Bones a lot?"

"Yeah, he told me about when he went to the desert with her and it was real hot."

"Yes, it was." She let her mind wander a bit before refocussing on the investigation at hand. "What else does he say? Does he think she's pretty?"

"I think she's pretty."

"I think she's pretty, too, sweetie. But I want to know what your daddy thinks."

Parker chewed thoughtfully on his straw. "He thinks she's really brave. And one time he told me" - the boy gulped and looked up at Angela with guilty eyes - "I'm not s'posed to tell."

_Jackpot!_ "It's okay, honey, you can tell me. I won't tell Dr. Bones." _Maybe_.

Parker was skeptical. "Daddy said it on accident. I wasn't s'posed to hear."

"How about you whisper it to me?"

Parker hesitated, then leaned forward until Angela could feel his warm, apple juice-sweet breath on her cheek. "He said sometimes she's a" - his voice dropped so it was barely audible - "pain in the ass."

Only the disappointment that Booth had not let slip a declaration of love kept Angela from laughing out loud. "I take it Daddy doesn't usually say bad words like that?"

"Uh-uh, not _ever_, except one time when he dropped the toaster on his foot."

"Well, even the best daddies make mistakes sometimes." She ruffled his hair and went back to entering data while she planned her next move. "Parker, what would you think if your dad got married?"

-

"Can you really eat bugs?"

Jack Hodgins looked up from his microscope. "Ah, some of them. Well, most, actually, if they're properly prepared. Shouldn't you be in school or something, Parker?"

"Nope, it's vacation so I came to stay with Daddy but then he had to go to work so I get to stay with Dr. Bones but she has a con-sul-ta-tion and then I got to watch Angela with the holographic machine only she has to go to a meeting now. Can I feed the bugs?"

"There you are!" Angela said, arriving breathlessly at the door. "Listen, Hodgins, I've gotta take off for an hour or so; can you keep an eye on the kid?"

"Isn't that Brennan's job?"

"That guy from the Smithsonian is still talking her ear off; something about the language of burial tablets. I don't even know why he needed to see a forensic anthropologist. Anyway, just keep Parker out of trouble for a bit until she's done, okay? Oh, and see if you can get any more dirt on you-know-who and you-know-who-else. Thanks, Jack!"

She was out of the door before he could mount any kind of serious resistance. "Women," Hodgins said, shaking his head. "I'm telling you, Parker, sometimes I don't even know why I bother... well, okay, I know why I bother, but that's probably not an appropriate topic for someone of your tender years."_ Besides, if Angela thinks I'm going to waste a valuable opportunity for inquiry on her little Mulder-Scully fetish, she is seriously mistaken._

"Can we feed the bugs now?"

"It won't be time for their regular feeding for another two hours, actually."

"Can they have a snack?"

Hodgins tried not to look appalled. "No! These aren't just any old bugs. These specimens have been carefully raised from their pupal stage and ingest only a highly nutritious and carefully monitored diet."

"Do they eat chocolate? Ants eat chocolate if you leave it on the counter."

Jack gave up. "How about I get you some paper and a pencil and you can work on some, ah, diagrams of the insects in their habitat until it's time for a snack."

Parker accepted the distraction and settled cross-legged on the floor in front of the glass enclosure. Jack went back to his samples, waiting until the boy seemed suitably engrossed in his drawing before he began his questioning.

"Hey Parker?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know what a conspiracy theory is?"

"No."

"Excellent, excellent." _Less suspicion that way._ "Does your dad have any, ah, secret cases he works on? You know, ones that he doesn't tell Dr. Brennan about?"

"Sometimes he has other cases with the FBI, but he likes the ones with Dr. Bones the best."

"Interesting... what kinds of cases are we talking about?"

"I dunno. He's not s'posed to tell me 'cause Mommy says I'll have bad dreams, but I'm not scared!"

"What kind of friends does your father have? Any senators, lobbyists, that sort of thing?"

"I dunno." Parker replied again, clearly beginning to tire of the conversation. "What's a senator?"

"When you're lucky, a willing participant in a covert international espionage plot."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Do the names Roger Armada or the Robertson Corporation mean anything to you?"

"Dr. Jack, I have to go to the bathroom."

Hodgins sighed. Either the five-year-old knew nothing, or had been extremely well trained. "Come on, I'll show you where it is."

-

"I don't know if this is a good idea," Zack said nervously. "Dr. Goodman specifically said that I wasn't to do anything today except work on my thesis. If he finds out I was chaperoning Agent Booth's son instead, he might-"

"Geez, Zack, I'm not asking you to compromise national security or something. Just let the kid sit next to you and play his video game. Goodman's not even in the lab today."

"I thought Agent Booth left his son with Dr. Brennan. Why isn't she-"

"Brennan's tied up in a consult, Angela had a meeting, and I" - he grinned - "have a last minute lunch date with an incredibly attractive junior senatorial aide."

"I'm not sure I'm qualified to supplant Dr. Brennan's level of-"

"Zack, you have, what, 47 cousins? And Brennan's idea of a bedtime story is probably 'Ontogeny and functional histology of the first ethmoturbinal in strepsirrhines'. I'm pretty sure you're at least as qualified as she is to entertain a five-year-old."

The young assistant sighed reluctantly. "Fine, but if Dr. Goodman says anything-"

"Relax, I've got your back. I'll go send in the kid."

Zack was still silently bemoaning his lack of conviction when Parker arrived. "Hi, Parker," he said awkwardly. "Do you, um, want to sit at my desk? Or I could bring you a chair? Or maybe one of the lab stools? No, that would probably be too high."

"I wanna sit at your desk," said Parker, oblivious to the young scientist's anxiety.

"Okay." Zack mentally cursed himself for being awkward. _He's just a kid. You're an adult. And you're good with kids._ "So, um, are you having fun with Dr. Brennan?"

"Uh-huh. She told me your name is Mr. Zack but soon you're gonna be Dr. Zack and you're the best helper she ever had."

Zack felt his ears redden at the praise. "She, um, that's, wow, that's really nice of her. Does Agent, uh, your father talk about me?"

"Uh-huh. You made the robot for Christmas. I brought it to school for show and tell!"

"Oh, yeah, the robot. I'm glad you liked it. Does he say anything else? Your dad, I mean?"

"Mmm, no. Mostly he talks about Dr. Bones and sometimes Angela."

Zack breathed a sigh of relief. The status quo had been maintained; he was one of the guys.

-

"Parker! There you are!" Brennan tried not to appear too relieved when she discovered the small child sitting happily at Zack's desk, DS in hand.

"Hi Dr. Bones! Angela showed me movies and then I got to feed the bugs with Dr. Jack and draw pictures and Mr. Zack let me sit at his desk and can we have lunch now?"

Zack looked panicked. "Dr. Brennan, I hope it's okay that he's in here, I mean Hodgins said I should-"

"It's fine, Zack," she replied. "I appreciate this. And it sounds like he had a great morning. Would you like to join us for lunch? Angela suggested some sort of fondue restaurant, I forget the name... she seemed to think it would appeal to Parker, though I'm not sure why."

"Not fondue," Angela interrupted, appearing at the doorway in her jacket. "Cheese. Chuck E. Cheese's. It's a pizza place. Geez, Bren, didn't you ever go to a birthday party when you were a kid?"

"Yes." Tempe couldn't come up with any further response. "Anyway, Zack, you're welcome to come along."

"No!" The formerly anxious research assistant now looked positively terrified. "I can't... bad, bad memories... mouse costume... skeeball... y-you just go on without me."

Brennan frowned. "Ange, I'm not sure about this. I mean, if Zack is concerned, then maybe Parker is a little young, and I don't want to do anything that Booth wouldn't approve of-"

Her best friend just rolled her eyes. "Relax, sweetie. I'm sure it's perfectly safe for droids."

"What?"

"Just get your coat."

-

**A/N: **Hodgins's 'bedtime story' title is the name of an actual lecture at a forensic anthropology conference I found on the internet. I don't know what it means (wink, wink). Also, I'm with Zack; Chuck E. Cheese's is the scariest place ever, so I will probably be skipping that part.


	8. A Coincidence?

**A/N: **Today, one of my 2-year-old students pointed to my chest and said "boobies." That doesn't have anything to do with my story, but I hope it makes you smile, and (in case you haven't noticed yet) I'm not really into traditional authors' notes.

Speaking of amusement, I changed the genre of this to "romance/humor" since, apparently, it's funny. I love it when writing takes on a life of its own. Ironically, this chapter is less humorous and more cute than the preceeding one. It also contains some moderate spoilers for _Two Bodies in the Lab_, mostly in the sense that if you haven't seen the ep, it might be confusing.

Last but not least, I would like to state for the record that a fixation on pirates is not a guy thing. Pirates are wicked awesome! love, tc

-

"Wow, you have a lot of CDs, Dr. Bones!" Parker called from the living room. Brennan tossed their bags on an end table and went after the boy. He was on his tiptoes in front of her collection. "Do you have The Wiggles?" he asked excitedly.

"I'm going to have to assume that that's a musical group, and no." Her eyes came to rest on the case resting on the edge of the table – _Foreigner: The Complete Greatest Hits_. Even after the crime scene investigators had finished their work and she and Angela had cleaned up all residual evidence of the explosion, Brennan hadn't been able to move it. There was something about the memory of those untouched, innocent (_it had been just innocent fun, right?_) moments before all Hell had broken loose that she wasn't quite ready to leave behind.

Parker was already hitting 'power', 'play', and 'shuffle' with the confident prowess of a 21st-century child. _Hot Blooded_ poured through the speakers, and Tempe couldn't help but grin. The warm nostalgia was short-lived, however, as Parker called out, "I listened to this song at Daddy's house yesterday!"

_Coincidence_, she told herself, attempting to breathe deeply. _Logical, even. He praised the album highly and implied that no music enthusiast should be without a copy. No reason not to listen to it yesterday evening. _"Really? That's nice," Brennan replied in what she hoped was a casual tone.

"Uh-huh," said Parker distractedly, currently playing air guitar. "He bought it after he was in the hospital to make himself feel happy. Um, Dr. Bones, are you okay?"

The forensic anthropologist in question had just tripped over her own coffee table. "Yes, fine, sorry, I'm fine, just, ah, I'm going to get dinner started. You just, uh, keep dancing."

In the kitchen, Brennan was pretty sure that if her hands didn't stop shaking soon, she was going to slice her finger instead of the chicken breast. _He bought... does that mean... what about... it's just a CD! He probably bought it for the same reason you can't take yours out of the stereo._ The nagging voice retorted _which is what, exactly?_

Brennan shoved all of those clearly inappropriate thoughts aside and concentrated on heating a pan of oil without burning down her kitchen in the process. In the next room, she could hear Parker switching tracks and occasionally singing along. "Dr. Bones, can I look at your books?" he shouted.

"Well, I don't really have any children's titles, but you're welcome to see what you can find on the shelves," she called back. "Dinner will be ready in about 15 minutes."

The CD played on, but all other noise ceased. Brennan poured two glasses of milk and added chocolate syrup (a late night purchase the day before) to Parker's. Setting plates of chicken and SpongeBob-shaped pasta (she sincerely hoped that Angela hadn't been joking about that, though the packaging did seem to indicate that the product appealed to children) on the table, she went in search of her young charge.

Parker was face down on the carpet, brown eyes wide, pouring over – _Shit._ "Um, Parker, sweetie, I don't think it's appropriate for you to be examining that textbook."

The boy looked up from the image of a partially-decomposed skeleton. "How come? Dr. Bones, do dead people really look like this?"

"Well, sometimes, when the conditions are-" _speaking of dead people, your father is going to kill me. _"You know what, I think it's time for dinner. Why don't you go wash your hands?"

"Okay," he said reluctantly, and headed toward the bathroom while she hid the evidence and tried not to think about what else he might have seen. _This is why I would make a lousy mother. I know more about peri-mortem skull fragmentation than appropriate children's literature._

"Cool! SpongeBob AND Patrick!" Parker was squealing gleefully, and Tempe relaxed in the knowledge that she'd done _something_ right. Well, if listening to Angela's advice counted. She and Parker settled down and spent the majority of the meal discussing the plausibility of a pineapple remaining intact in salt water at high pressure and the appropriateness of a tie as a component of a sea sponge's attire.

-

The low toll of the doorbell while they were clearing the table sent Parker running to the door and Brennan's heart into her throat. "Daddy, Daddy!" he screamed, and it was all Tempe could do to keep him from flipping the locks before she checked the peephole. It was indeed her partner, sans jacket, tie loosened and hair disheveled. The exhaustion was evident even in the tiny, distorted view, and her hands ached to smooth and comfort, though she wasn't sure why and certainly did not know how. Tempe settled for opening the door and hoped Parker's squirming enthusiasm would take care of the rest.

Some of the weariness did appear to ease as he took the five-year-old into his arms, but Brennan noted that her partner's usually unstoppable grin wasn't quite reaching his eyes. "Did you have fun with Dr. Brennan?" he asked.

"Uh-huh. We had chocolate milk and I got to feed the bugs with Dr. Zack and I beat Angela at skee ball!"

"And I'm sure it happened in exactly that order," he chuckled. "And did you listen to Dr. Brennan and stay out of trouble?"

"Uh-huh. I looked at her books but she said I couldn't look at the ones with dead people."

"Booth, I am _so _sorry, I can't believe I let him see those textbooks-" she babbled, realizing that she hadn't even been hospitable enough to say hello.

"Hey, Bones, it's cool. He's probably seen worse on _CSI_." Booth bent down to look his son in the eye. "Just don't tell Mommy, okay?"

"Okay. I didn't tell her about your books either."

"You have forensic textbooks?" Tempe asked, puzzled.

"Not with dead people. With naked ladies," Parker explained patiently. "Daddy keeps them in-"

"Okay, right, well, anyway, I'm glad he wasn't too much trouble," the agent interrupted, one large hand covering the small boy's mouth.

"Not at all," she replied, trying not to smirk at her partner's obvious embarrassment.

At that moment, the CD started over and _Hot Blooded_ pounded through the apartment again. Brennan forced herself to meet Booth's eyes, but instead of the shock, curiosity, or embarrassment _(then again, how would he know that Parker told me?)_ she'd expected, there was a kind of understanding, a shared moment that brought forth the first genuine smile since he had walked in the door.

"Daddy, Daddy, dance with me and Dr. Bones!" cried Parker. Booth obligingly began to rock out, but the boy shook his head. "No, like Drew and Cheryl!" he whined.

Temperance didn't recall Booth ever having mentioned acquaintances named Drew and Cheryl, but apparently they were quite the dancers. Before she knew what was happening, Booth had swept her into his arms and they were spinning around the living room in some sort of improvised tango that didn't seem to match the music and had her laughing and breathless. When the track changed and the opening chords of a soft, familiar ballad filled the room, she didn't argue when he slid his fingers into hers and pulled her body close. His smile was soft and distant, and the fatigue in his eyes had returned.

"Hey Parker," she called softly, meeting his father's gaze, "can you go in the kitchen and finish up those dishes for me?"

He scampered off, and Temperance wished yet again for Angela's easy smile and open, comfortable demeanor. Her best friend would know what to do, what to say, how to comfort this man who was hurting so desperately. More to steady her own nerves than anything else, Tempe let her head fall against her partner's chest, and felt Booth rest his chin lightly against her hair. _Should I ask him about the case? Will talking make it worse? Will he think I'm prying? Ange, help..._

_It's so right_, he thought, relaxing for the first time in days as her fingers brushed absently at the nape of his neck. _This is my partner. My colleague. A year ago I barely knew her, and now we're in her living room dancing to some cheesy love song with my son in the other room and somehow, it's not even close to awkward. When did this happen? When did the thought of holding her in my arms go from momentary, inconvenient fantasy to uncomfortably recurring desire to... normal?_

Tempe felt him relax against her. His touch at her waist was gentle but steady, reassuring. She breathed in his familiar _(familiar? when did that happen?)_ scent and felt his heartbeat, slow and even, calming. _Great. I try to comfort him and I'm the one who feels better._ When she raised her head, though, she saw that the tension had eased and he was regarding her quietly, thoughtfully. Their faces were close, almost touching, yet there was none of the meddlesome, insistent desire to press her lips against his that, the scientist had to admit, was coming over her more and more frequently with each passing day. Instead, there was simple pleasure, unspoken understanding, fulfillment. Whatever had been growing between the two, whatever would come to pass, faded away and there was only a man and a woman, dancing. It was enough.

"Thank you," Booth whispered to his partner as the song ended. Brennan smiled and turned toward Parker, yawning in the doorway.

"Ready to go home?" she asked, releasing his father so she could tousle the boy's hair.

"Uh-huh," he replied drowsily. "Can I go to the lab again tomorrow?"

"Actually, I meant to tell you when I came in. They don't need me at the office until the afternoon – we're waiting for some surveillance reports – so I was thinking we could go to the zoo," Booth answered.

Parker responded with an exuberant cry. "The giraffes? We can see the giraffes?"

Booth chuckled. "All the giraffes you can handle."

The boy grabbed Brennan's hand. "Dr. Bones, I'm gonna show you the baby giraffe!"

"Oh, well, honey, I think your dad was planning on-"

"Bones, don't be ridiculous; you're welcome to join us."

She desperately wanted to accept and didn't know why. "Are you sure? I mean, I know you haven't had much time alone with Parker, and I wouldn't want to be in the way..."

"Please Dr. Bones, please please please puh-leeeeease..." begged the younger Booth.

"Yeah, Dr. Bones," repeated the elder, with a cheeky grin that told Brennan he was feeling like himself again – for better or for worse. "Please?"

She sighed. Even the great Dr. Temperance Brennan was no match for two pairs of chocolate brown eyes and identical pouting mouths. "What time should I be ready?"

-

**A/N: **There is currently only one (non-baby) giraffe at the National Zoo, but they were my brother's favorite animal when he was there as a toddler, so I'm taking a liberty. Also, I ignored track numbers on the CD - the ballad is _I Want to Know What Love Is._


	9. A Date?

**A/N: **Okay, so, the next chapter was supposed to be about the zoo. But the muses are not cooperating, and I've decided that it's just not meant to be, and I'm moving on. Perhaps I will write it as a oneshot some time in the future. The good news is that almost all of the remaining chapters (7 I think) are complete or mostly complete (writer's block detours). Without further ado... -tc

-

Tempe had to suppress the urge to pull Booth's spare key out of her pocket as she reached the apartment door. _Idiot. When someone invites you for dinner, you ring the bell. This is not your place. It's not even your key. In 24 hours, this will all be over. Parker will go back to his mother, you'll go back to working 16-hour days, and Booth... Booth... _She realized suddenly that the door was open and the agent in question was staring quizzically at her. Forcing a smile, she stepped through the doorway, berating herself. _Can't you act normally around him anymore, Brennan? Or at least, normal for you?_

Her composure was put to the test once again when Booth stepped forward to take her coat. Under the disturbingly familiar scent of his aftershave was something she didn't recognize, a deeper, musky fragrance that could only be... _cologne. Oh God. A date? _Parker's words burned in her ears. Brennan was thankful that her partner had headed off to the closet and she had a moment to let her mind settle. Then the child himself rushed in from his bedroom and she found herself relaxing with surprising ease.

Parker reached automatically for a hug and the anthropologist obliged. "We're having spaghetti!" he announced happily.

"Is that a reflection of your taste or your father's culinary abilities?" she asked.

"Both, actually," Booth replied, taking Parker from his partner's arms and hoisting him upside down over his shoulder. "But I suspect you're underestimating me."

"Daddy and I make the noodles together!" Parker cut in, voice muffled against his father's shirt. "Come on, I'll show you how!"

Booth let him wiggle free and drag Brennan toward the kitchen, where she was surprised to find a large pot of sauce simmering on the stove, surrounded by spice jars. A stainless steel manual pasta maker and stoneware container of flour were equally unexpected.

"See, first we're gonna pour the flour out here, and then Daddy smashes the eggs and I get to mix everything together and I don't even have to use a spoon!"

"Impressed?" asked his father, leaning over her shoulder so Brennan caught the scent of his cologne again.

"Yes, actually." It was difficult to admit "I never pictured you as a chef."

"Well, I don't usually take such elaborate measures when it's just me, but I try to do something special with Parker when he's here."

That brought a wave of guilt even as she enjoyed the thought of a domestic Seeley Booth passing on his knowledge to the next generation. "Booth, I still feel awkward about this, I mean, it's your time with your son. If you want me to leave, I would completely under-"

She couldn't decide whether the gesture was becoming endearing or irritating when, for the third time in as many days, his fingers were pressed to her lips. "Okay, Bones, apparently you're not clear on what's going on here tonight. And I've been real nice this week about not ordering you around, since you're doing me a favor with Parker, but I'm getting a little tired of the whole 'please, shut me out of your private life' routine. So you're gonna listen real close, and then you're gonna do exactly as I say. First, you will have a glass of wine. Then, we will make pasta with my son. We will have a pleasant dinner, during which I will be charmingly witty, you will be adorably baffled by contemporary cultural references, and Parker will ask many, many questions about dead bodies. Are we clear?"

_This must be what it feels like to be a suspect he's interrogating_ flashed through her mind as hard brown eyes met her gaze. Booth's voice was low and deep, body intimately close, sending a teeny shock of lust down her spine. _Maybe not quite_. Tempe sighed. "Wine would be nice."

-

More grudging than the admission that Booth's culinary prowess had impressed her would be the realization, later, that the evening had progressed precisely as her partner had outlined. The hands-on pasta-making lesson was full of giggling and microbursts of semolina. Parker's enthusiastic 'help' delayed the finished product by at least twenty minutes. Brennan didn't know whether to laugh or cringe at the thought of how unacceptable she would consider that waste of time in her professional life. Which didn't explain the time she'd spent with Parker at the lab, the morning's excursion to the zoo, or the plans they'd made for the next day. _What's happening to my life?_ she wondered, hiding a grin behind her second glass of wine as Booth and his son attempted to tie the last few strands of pasta into intricate knots. As Parker dropped a double-half-hitch into his open mouth, she thought back to the conversation she'd had with Angela on the way out of the Jeffersonian.

"_I don't get it, Ange," she sighed, taking her jacket out of a cabinet that was papered with drawings in Parker's unsteady hand. "I only really met this kid two days ago. And I still have the same job and the same apartment, and I'm still me, and somehow it's like _everything_ has changed. I was so sure, I'm so good at being _sure_ about things, and now I'm not sure about anything. I can't stop thinking about my parents, and what it was like to lose them, and what it must have been like for them to... when they knew... if they knew they couldn't come back to Russ and me. And it just doesn't seem fair that this is all happening now, that Parker could just turn my world upside down, when I could keep-" She stopped, Dora the Explorer cup halfway to her bag._

"_Come on, sweetie, you can say it." Angela put a comforting arm around her friend and leaned her head on Tempe's shoulder. "You kept Booth from turning your life upside down. That's what you think, isn't it?" Brennan nodded._

_Angela took her best friend's face in her hands. "Bren, I know you don't like me interfering, and I know you _really_ don't want to hear any more of my theories about you and your hunky FBI agent. So I'm gonna say this once and then I promise I'll let it be. Seeley Booth has already changed your life. For better or for worse, the day he stepped into the lab, he brought something in that you can never get rid of. The Brennan who never went out for a drink after work? Who never _left_ work? Who didn't trust her instincts? Didn't trust anyone else to take care of her? You know I love you, hon, I always have. But personally, professionally, you are a better person than you were before you met him. Can you honestly deny that you've changed?"_

_A small voice. "No."_

"_And can you honestly say that you want that woman back?"_

"_No."_

"_Alright, then."_

"_Ange... what do I do?"_

_The artist smiled. "That's up to you. But I think that when the time is right, you'll know."_

_Temperance wrapped her friend in a rare hug. "Thank you, Angela."_

"_My pleasure. And one more thing, Bren?"_

"_Yes?"_

"_Not to get all chick-flick on you, but maybe he's turned your world right side up."_

Speaking of 'right side up', Brennan was dragged back to the present by Parker's hysterical shrieks of laughter as his father hoisted him up by the ankles.

"Help me, Dr. Bones, help me help me!" Parker squealed. Brennan performed a cursory situational analysis, drawing on three advanced degrees. The child was clearly not in any _physical_ danger, but there was an inexplicable tug in her stomach at hearing him call out to her for aid. Although the devilish grin on his father's face was quite irresistible as well...

_A memory surfaced gradually. Her mother at the kitchen counter making coffee, Tempe and her chemistry set at the table, Russ's squeals and their father's booming laughter drifting in from the living room - "Mommy, Mommy, save me!" And her mother..._

Before the thought was completely formed, her hands were in front of her eyes. "Parker, is that you?" Brennan feigned confusion. "I can't find you anywhere?"

Wild giggling told her that her instincts had been correct. "Dr. Bones, I'm right here! Daddy's got me!"

She kept up the charade, turning her head exaggeratedly. "I can't see you, Parker, where did you go? Booth, have you seen Parker?"

The FBI agent was finding it difficult to maintain a serious tone in the face of his son's obvious pleasure and his own glee at the way Dr. Brennan had thrown herself so completely into the game. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen her this... goofy. He'd seen so much this week that he'd never known was beneath the polished, professional exterior. _Maybe not known, but... hoped._ The tenderness when they'd danced the previous evening, the joy in her eyes when she saw Parker... and that was the kicker. Because he'd told himself all along that there was no point in considering any kind of long-term scenario with the beautiful, stubborn forensic anthropologist because she flat-out refused to consider the possibility of having children. And sure, he'd delighted in teasing her about it, poking at her, pitting his own stubborn will against hers – that was their thing. But frankly, Booth wasn't sure he was ready to confront the possibility that the deal-breaking issue was off the table. Plus, she was wearing her mother's earrings and had left her hair loose and curly, and he was only human after all... _Earth to Seeley. Deal with this later. First things first..._

"Parker who? Oh, _that_ Parker. Nope, haven't seen him. Anyway, I need to get this subject into the interrogation room for a little bubble bath torture. Would you like to supervise the proceedings?"

She laughed and removed her hands. "No, you go ahead. I'll take care of the dishes."

"Thanks," he replied, and hauled a still-giggling Parker down the hallway, trying not to think about how easily they'd settled into the domestic routine.

-

**A/N: **This chapter is dedicated to (although they will never read it) my mommy, who makes amazing marinara sauce from scratch, and my Uncle Fred, who taught me (and all of my cousins) to make pasta from scratch when I visited him in DC.

Lastly... OMG TONIGHT'S EPISODE WAS SO GOOD! Hodgela like wo, fluff, UST... I feel like the writers were channeling my energy. "Jesus is not a zombie." ROFLMAO. Erm, that is all.


	10. A Definition

**A/N:** This is my personal favorite chapter so far. Special thanks to my sister Karen, amateur fashion consultant, for giving me an appropriate term for what I would have called "man shoes". -tc

-

Brennan watched from the doorway as Booth settled his broad frame onto the edge of Parker's twin bed. He'd kicked off his black oxfords in front of the dresser, and his legs stretched out across the spaceship-printed comforter next to his son's. Temperance smiled as she watched the two men go through what was clearly an established ritual of story-reading, tucking in, goodnight kisses, and a cursory check of the closet for monsters. _Not afraid of skeletons, but furry little men? _she mused, grinning at Agent Booth's serious demeanor as he performed the examination. She was waiting for him in the hallway when he finally turned off the lights and left the room.

Booth closed the door silently behind himself. "I like to wait here for a few minutes to make sure he's asleep," he whispered to Temperance. "You know, you could have come in. He loves reading with you."

"I didn't want to get in the way," she replied. "Besides, I enjoy studying your interaction. You know the father-son dynamic isn't one I get to observe very often."

Booth shook his head and sighed. "Squints. You thought it was interesting to watch me read A Fish Out of Water four times in a row?"

"Well, not _just_ interesting," she answered earnestly. "It was sexy."

Booth stepped closer to make sure he had heard her correctly. "We've driven through the streets of L.A. in a classic convertible, we've danced cheek-to-cheek, hell, I've dodged bullets for you, and somehow _this_ is your definition of sexy?"

Brennan looked confused. "No, not my personal definition. But when you think about our most primitive desires, our most basic instincts, women have been genetically programmed since the dawn of humanity to select the ideal mate through observation. It's the same in almost every other species. A protective nature and athletic prowess are clearly positive indicators of a male's ability to defend his offspring against enemies and pass on these favorable genetic qualities to future generations, but it's not enough. While in some species, the female raises the young largely as an individual or part of a larger female collective, humans are among the many animals who have traditionally reared their offspring in pairs."

"Uh-huh." Booth was trying valiantly, as always, to follow his partner's anthropological ramblings, but his mind kept getting sidetracked by words like "desire" and unwanted images of Brennan in a loincloth. He tried to focus on her little speech, but felt his eyes drawn instead to the way her full lips glistened even in the dim hallway lights, the little crinkle in her forehead that meant she was concentrating, the tiny dangling jade stars she wore in her ears.

"I mean, sex, while it has well-documented pleasurable side benefits, is essentially just a means of procreation. Therefore, when a woman evaluates an individual as 'sexy', she's really only saying that that individual exhibits characteristics that she finds appropriate in a potential candidate for procreation and co-nurturing of their shared offspring. So yes, your interaction with Parker demonstrated that you possess many of these characteristics, and therefore, as a woman, I found it sexy." She stopped for breath and noticed that Booth's face was barely a foot from her own, and that he was looking at her quite oddly – almost as though he had never seen her before. "Booth?" she asked. "Are you listening to me?"

"Right. Characteristics." He was trying very hard to concentrate all of his attention on the way her eyelashes fluttered softly, and none at all on imagining any 'pleasurable side benefits'. "So a man ... what kind of ... characteristics ... does he look for?"

Too deep into her explanation to be conscious of the growing tension, Brennan wondered fleetingly what in the world was wrong with the normally articulate FBI agent, then went back to her musings, tilting her head slightly in thought so that a few soft brown curls tumbled over her shoulder and down the side of her face. "Well, most men admit that they seek certain physical characteristics in a woman. Full breasts, curvaceous figure, and so forth. Which, evolutionarily speaking, is a logical desire. A woman's breasts represent her ability to sustain the man's progeny into adulthood. Wide hips give her a greater chance of surviving childbirth and retaining the ability to bear more than one offspring. If all women looked like Clarissa Flockhart, the future of our species would be in jeopardy."

"Calista," Booth corrected automatically, trying to tear his wandering attention away from Brennan's progeny-sustaining apparatuses.

"Right." Temperance told herself that it was only her long-winded explanation that had her a bit short of breath, and not the smoldering look in Booth's eyes or the fact that he seemed now mere inches from her. "But in addition to the physical characteristics, a man also requires a female who has certain less tangible attributes. She should be..." The anthropologist was momentarily distracted by a lock of hair that was sticking out near Booth's temple and the sudden burning desire to smooth it down. She shook her head and continued. "The male desires a female who..." She turned her wide eyes up to meet Booth's gaze, and her voice was a barely audible whisper. "I don't know what he wants."

Temperance realized suddenly that the critical moment Angela had spoken of might now be at hand, that she was pressed back against the wall, that she could barely draw her eyes from her partner's lips. Booth was leaning toward her with one arm braced against the wall, and the other hand had reached out to touch her earring and set it gently swaying. He took a final half-step toward her and their bodies were now so close that she couldn't tell whether it was his skin vibrating with desire or her own. Booth trailed a finger down the delicate curve of her jawline, then slid his hand back along her cheekbone to bury his fingers in her hair. Tilting his mouth down to hers so she could feel his warm breath on her trembling lips, he asked, "Is this okay?"

And whatever answer she would have given was lost, for at that moment Parker cried out, "Daddy! You forgot my night light!"

In an instant, Dr. Brennan had fled down the hall. Booth heard the apartment door close behind her, and he barely had a minute to rest his head on the wall and wonder what the hell had just happened before Parker called out again, and he opened the door to attend to his son.

-

**A/N:** Yep, I Seacrested ya. Don't worry, I promise it'll happen eventually. : )


	11. A Risk

**A/N: **Remember when we didn't even have 100 Bones stories on this site? Now there are over 300! We rock. Also, I am not intimidated by eight two-year-olds screaming for their lunch at the same time. Therefore, you can whine all you want, but B&B will kiss when I am good and ready for them to do so. Though I did appreciate the comments. That is all. : ) -tc

-

When she heard the soft knock, Angela looked up from her computer terminal and raised an eyebrow at the unexpected visitor in the doorway.

"Uh, Booth?" she asked. "You do know that your partner and your son are at the Museum of Natural History today, right?"

"Yes," he replied, walking into her office and settling into an empty chair.

"And... you know you don't really work here?"

"Yes."

"So... are you here about the serial killer case?"

"No. We got the son of a bitch last night; today's just a bunch of paperwork."

"Okay." Silence. "So..."

"It's about Bones," he blurted out, and Angela had to suppress a chuckle. _Duh. Now we're getting somewhere._

"What about Bren?" she prodded gently.

He was back on his feet, pacing the office, left hand jingling a pocketful of loose change while the right pulled at his impeccable Windsor knot. "This doesn't leave the lab? You won't tell her that I talked to you?"

_Jack works in the lab. That wouldn't be cheating_. "Cross my heart."

He sighed. "She... we... I almost... damnit!" He kicked a filing cabinet. "I don't even know why I'm here. You're probably the last person on Earth I should be asking for advice, but I couldn't think of anyone else."

"Gosh, Booth, I'm overwhelmed by your faith in me," she smirked, but he looked so crestfallen that she relented. "Hey, hon, it's okay. I understand. Let's go sit on Brennan's couch and talk. I'll get you some coffee."

He nodded numbly and followed her into the break room, accepting the mug in silence before they headed into Tempe's office. Angela let him collapse onto the couch, then sat down to offer a comforting hand on his arm. "Alright, sweetie, tell Angela everything. What happened last night?"

She could have sworn the FBI agent's cheeks flushed ever so slightly. "Nothing, exactly. I mean, technically nothing. I don't really want to talk about last night. That's not really the problem. Well, not entirely."

_Okay, this may take a while._ "Did you _want_ something to happen?"

The blush was definitely there now. Apparently Seeley Booth was just modest (or old-fashioned) enough to believe that some aspects of a relationship were private. Angela decided that she loved him for it.

Booth, meanwhile, had decided that Angela Montenegro was not a woman to whom a man should lie and expect to get away with it. "Yes."

_Don't squeal, Ange. He's already about two seconds away from running out of this office. Be cool._ "I see."

They sat in silence for a few moments before Booth finally broke down. "I wanted to kiss her. I almost did. I think. But then Parker interrupted us, and..."

"She ran?"

He nodded miserably.

"And you wanted her to stay?"

"See, that's the thing. Once she was gone, I was almost... relieved. I don't know if I'm ready for this, Angela."

"Um, could you be a little more specific?"

_Being intimate with a woman for the first time since the Tessa debacle? Letting someone else into Parker's life? Falling in love? _"She's just... I saw the file on her parents. Her photo. I've read the case files from the years she was in foster care. I know what happened in El Salvador. I know what Michael did to her, I know what Kenton and that voodoo creep tried to do to her... I don't want to be one more terrible thing that happens in her life."

"Booth, you're not like those guys. You care about her; you won't let her get hurt. Plus, Bren can take care of herself. I thought you'd realized that by now."

His laugh was mirthless. "I wish it were that easy. But the truth is, it's my own selfish ass I'm worried about. I don't know if I'm ready to risk our partnership. Besides Parker, it's the best thing in my life right now. A year ago, I didn't even want a partner. And now" - _what the hell, she probably knows already - "_Angela, I don't know what I'd do without her. And I'm secure enough in my masculinity to admit that that scares the shit out of me."

_God, Bren, you are so lucky._ "And you're worried that kissing her would put your partnership and your friendship at risk?"

"I'm pretty sure there would be a little more than kissing involved."

_Apparently modesty doesn't apply to hypothetical events._ "Okay, first of all, TMI. Well, not that I wouldn't drag it out of Brennan eventually, but that's not the point. The point is that you're right. This would be a huge step for both of you, and you stand to lose quite a bit. But think about it this way: what do you have to gain?" Angela set her mug down on the table and laced her fingers together. "Look, I didn't tell Tempe what to do, and I won't tell you, either. But I will say that I'm pretty sure I will wonder every day for the rest of my life why I didn't say yes to Kirk when he asked me to marry him. Because maybe it would have been a horrible mistake, but at least I'd know, y'know?"

"Is that your subtle way of telling me to go for it?"

She smiled. "I'm saying you shouldn't be afraid to figure out what you really want in life, even if you never get it. Be honest with yourself. Find out whether she's worth it. Because you deserve to be happy, Booth. Whatever sins you're repenting for by working homicide, whatever Catholic guilt some ruler-wielding nun beat into you all those years ago, you _are_ a good person. Don't let anyone tell you differently."

"Thanks, Angela."

-

"How come _we_ never sneak into Brennan's office when she's not here?" asked a low voice from behind her as she watched Booth's retreating form.

Angela didn't bother turning around. "First of all, Hodgins, she's ALWAYS here. And secondly, that's not exactly the kind of TLC I was giving Agent Booth."

"I know," he replied. "I was listening outside the door."

"Why am I not surprised?"

He came forward and stood next to her. "You're really good at that, you know."

"Deflecting your pathetic attempts at flirtation?"

"No. What you said to Booth. I mean, you listened, you didn't make up his mind for him, you knew just what to say. I was impressed."

"Oh." She couldn't tell whether the flush was embarrassment from her mistaken flippancy or pleasure from his praise. "Thanks. But, I mean, I was only being a friend. You could have done the same."

He shook his head. "Nah, I'm just the bug guy, remember? You're the artist. I'll never have your gift of words."

Her reply was so soft he almost missed it. "I liked the words you said to me."

"Huh?"

"When Bren was down in New Orleans with Booth. We were working on the John Doe 361 x-rays, and you were talking about Brennan, and you said... you said I led a big life. That I had made a difference in hers. It... I liked it. It made me feel special."

Jack didn't know how to reply. "It was my pleasure." He paused to see whether she would break the moment with a glib remark. "Did you mean what you said to Booth about Kirk? You don't think you'll get another chance at the happiness you could have had with him?"

She waited a moment before replying. "Bren told me that nothing happens only once, that the universe is too big."

He traced circles on the edge of an examining table. "Dr. Brennan is a very smart woman."

"Yeah." She smiled. "I sure hope so."

-

**A/N: **Angela has been so great to B&B during this whole week that I thought she deserved a little fluff of her own – hence the Hodgela garnish (Caroline's term, btw).


	12. A Fear

**A/N: **Still claiming no ownership of _Bones _or its characters, nor of the text that opens this chapter. -tc

-

"_Tell me, I'm begging you, how she came to discover just how much she wanted from him, how she knew what she desired of him."_

_His eyes returned to hers, with a fixed gaze that was becoming a bit haggard._

"_I imagine that one day," he said, "one morning at dawn, she knew suddenly what she wanted of him. Everything became so clear for her that she told him of her desire. There is no explanation, I think, for that kind of discovery."_

_ -Duras, Moderato Cantabile (my translation from the French)_

-

Seeley Booth opened the door to his apartment and was surprised to find it silent. The lights were on – clearly, his partner and son had returned from their adventure – but there was no low drone of the television, no high-pitched giggles or low, smoky laughter, no clatter of dishes or cacophony of electronic sound effects. Fatherly instincts told him that silence often meant trouble, but he couldn't imagine Temperance letting his son out of her sight long enough to cause any serious damage. _So where are they?_

Entering the living room, Booth realized why neither was making any noise – one was asleep; the other, deeply engrossed in a book. "Hi, Parker," he whispered.

"Shhh," replied the boy, looking up from a children's encyclopedia of dinosaurs. "Dr. Bones is sleeping."

"I can see that." The anthropologist had clearly been looking over Parker's shoulder at one point, but was now sprawled against the back of the couch, hair spilling down across her face. A blue Thomas the Tank Engine blanket, normally folded on the arm of the sofa, was spread over her lap, and Parker had cuddled up to her side, book on his knees. "I guess you tired her out, buddy."

"Uh-huh. But I tucked her in. Are we gonna wake her up?"

Despite the embarrassment his partner would probably feel upon waking, Booth couldn't bear to disturb her when she looked so peaceful. "No, I think we'll let Dr. Bones sleep for a little while longer. Let's get you into your PJ's."

Parker placed a delicate kiss on Brennan's forehead, whispered, "Goodnight, Dr. Bones," and allowed himself to be lifted into his father's arms.

-

Half an hour later, Booth closed the door to Parker's room, then started down the hallway toward the living room. He knew Bones had awoken, since he had seen her briefly in the doorway, but he hadn't heard her leave the apartment. He frowned, wondering whether she was still upset about the kiss they had almost shared the previous night, but his expression quickly turned to alarm when he saw her curled tightly on the end of the couch, hair shrouding her face, shoulders clearly shaking with quiet sobbing. At his gentle touch, she sprang back, and he saw that her eyes were indeed red and brimming with tears.

"Hey, c'mere, it's okay." Four years of fatherhood had taught Seeley Booth to comfort first and ask questions later. He gathered a reluctant Dr. Brennan into his arms, rocked her gently until he felt her stiff muscles relax into his embrace, stroked her curls with his fingertips until she let her head pillow against his chest, and made soft shushing noises into her ear until her sobbing subsided into hiccuping sniffles, then harsh, shallow breaths, and finally into quiet. He released her slightly so he could brush damp tears from her cheeks with his handkerchief, and silently begged whatever gods either of them believed in to give him a hand. Whatever could make Dr. Temperance Brennan dissolve into a hysterical mess in his arms was probably beyond his usual parental arsenal of solutions.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" he asked softly.

Brennan let out a shaky breath. "We came home from the museum. You weren't back, so I made dinner. Afterwards, Parker and I were reading on the couch, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up alone."

"Hey, you don't have to be embarrassed, Bones. You've had a long week – don't try to tell me you haven't been putting in extra hours in the middle of the night to make up for your time with Parker."

She had, though probably not nearly as many as he would have assumed. But that thought would have to wait.

"I thought I'd lost him." The hysteria was gone, leaving her cold, empty, numb, and too exhausted to hide the truth. "I thought something had happened. I woke up and he was gone and all I could think about was that he'd wandered off somewhere, that someone had taken him, that I hadn't protected him the way I promised. God, Booth, I am so sorry. He could have been anywhere."

"Hey, shhh, it's okay." He stroked her hair gently. "Parker's a good kid. He knows better than to leave without telling anyone. And you locked the door when you got home. Nothing could have happened."

"You don't know that." She couldn't meet his eyes. "You think your child is safe... your family is safe... everything seems perfect, until the day it all falls apart."

_I should have known_. "Tempe, what happened to your parents – whatever it was – is not going to happen again."

"Booth, I'm not a child. I don't want empty promises."

"Is that what you think your parents did? Bones, they didn't mean to lie to you."

"I know." She still wasn't looking at him. "I used to be angry with them. I mean, your parents are supposed to be the ones you can trust most in the world. I used to think, how could they tell me they would always be there? How could they let me believe that life would always be easy and simple? And I knew that it wasn't logical, that they didn't leave me on purpose, but I couldn't stop blaming them."

"You were just a kid. It's natural to be angry – it's all part of the grieving process."

"I know. And I haven't felt that way in a long time. After a while, I was just... sad. For my brother and me, for the childhood we never had. And now... for my parents. Because however terrible it was for me to realize that they hadn't been able to protect me from that pain, I can't begin to imagine what it was like for them, to know they couldn't keep their promises." She was shaking again. "How do you do it, Booth? How do you tell your son that you love him, then go to work every day knowing you might never come back?"

He took her hand. "C'mere." Brennan tried a feeble moan of protest, but, afraid he would do something completely embarrassing like carry her wherever they were going, she let herself be dragged down the hallway to... Parker's room. Booth put a finger to his lips, then cracked the door open so he could peek inside. After a moment, he stepped into the room and motioned for Tempe to follow. She crept into the child's room, and Booth moved behind her. The gentleness with which he grasped her shoulder couldn't prevent the shiver that ran from her neck to her toes as he leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"Do you see that?" His breath was soft and warm against her skin.

"See what?" Parker was fast asleep, snoring lightly, his dusty blond hair matted against the pillow, one arm flung out beside him while the other clutched the Stegosaurus they'd picked out that afternoon.

Seeley slid one arm around her shoulder so he could point a finger toward his sleeping son. "That, Bones, is a happy kid. A happy, safe, healthy little boy, who's probably dreaming about the Metazoic era as we speak."

"Mesozoic," she correctly automatically.

Booth rolled his eyes. "Whatever. The point is, Bones, you're right. We can't save every child, no matter how hard we try. We can't guarantee that nothing bad will ever happen to them, and we can't even catch the bad guys every time something does." He turned her slowly in his arms until their eyes met and she could feel his breath again, this time on her lips. "But right now there's a kid in this room who just had probably the best week of his _life_, and _no one_, absolutely no one can take that memory away from him. And you did that, Temperance."

She stared up at him, and Booth knew she was thinking, calculating, analyzing, examining the evidence, and when he finally saw that minuscule widening of the eyes that experience told him meant she had reached her conclusion, he was completely flabbergasted when the first words out of her mouth were "Get out of the room."

"Huh?" he managed, but her hands were already on his chest, pushing.

"You. Out. Now," she continued firmly, sending him stumbling backwards over a pair of SpongeBob sneakers and out into the hall. Booth was still trying to figure out what had happened – had he said something wrong and now she was going to kick his ass where there were no witnesses? was she going to throw up and thought the hardwood would clean more easily than the carpet? - when her hands slid around his neck and then – oh God – Bones was kissing him.


	13. A Question

**A/N: **This may be bordering on an M rating ... if you have any doubts, please just skip to the next chapter. I promise, you'll be able to guess what happens.

This chapter is for Laura, who first introduced me to fanfiction ten years ago. How many afternoons did we spend reading Sailor Moon fics on your computer? Thanks, LBB. :)

-

They had stumbled as far as his bedroom and barely managed to close the door behind them before his lips were on her mouth, then the delicate curve of her jaw, then across her cheeks where minutes ago, there had been salty tears. Brennan let her body sink into the dreamy sensation of his mouth exploring her face with kisses so soft, she might have been dreaming, only his arms around her were strong and sure, holding her desperately, keeping her safe.

"Temperance..." he stopped to press his forehead to hers and tried not to let the sensation of her fingers tracing circles on the back of his neck turn his entire brain to mush. "Tempe, I just want to make sure ... because in a minute I may not be able to think clearly, and I want to make sure that this is what we want, what you want, because afterwards ... I mean, there's work, and..." He realized that his hands were shaking, and he linked them at her lower back, trying to steady himself.

"You're worried that it'll be awkward for us?" She felt his arms tremble and pulled one hand from his neck to trace a soft line across his cheek with her thumb. "That it'll be this huge mistake that we can never take back if we stay in this bedroom and you make love to me the way I'm desperate for you to do?" She felt his sharp intake of breath, and Brennan took his face in both hands, waiting for his eyes to open and show her the same desire she knew was glowing from her own. "Booth, whatever happens or doesn't happen tonight, this thing between us isn't going to disappear. I don't know when it started, and I don't know when I realized it was there, but somewhere in all of this time I found out that ... I don't want it to go away."

And then her mouth was on his and Booth knew that no one, absolutely no one had ever touched him so much with one kiss, and when his hands found her waist it was no longer nervousness that had his fingers trembling, at least not entirely, because being with Bones for the first time was somehow like the real first time all over again, and desire and anxiety and hormones and something like love, but that almost certainly couldn't be love, were all mixed up in his system and he knew that he really should start breathing again soon if he didn't want to pass out and _really_ screw this up.

Booth slid his hands around the curve of Brennan's jeans and lifted her into his arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply so that he almost stumbled before laying her down gently on his bed, her soft curls spreading out across his quilted comforter, and when he started to unbutton his shirt and she reached out to take over with her own hands he had to stop himself from just pulling her into his arms and holding her there forever, even though that clearly was not going to satisfy either of them at this point.

Brennan was surprised at how steady her fingers were as she carefully loosened each button, how Booth's involuntary shiver at the first touch of her cool hands on his bare chest didn't make her nervous, but instead emboldened her to place a line of soft kisses from his stomach up to the curve of his neck, where she lingered, tasting, until Booth's hands pulled her back to his mouth for a hard, unhurried kiss that went on and on until she felt his hands leave her face to slip her shirt over her head, and then there was the glorious sensation of bare skin meeting as he took her in his arms and leaned her back until the weight of his body covered the full length of hers.

Booth couldn't believe how perfect it felt to have his partner half-naked below him, couldn't get enough of the warm vanilla scent of her hair and the soft fullness of her lips and the way she arched up against his hips when he trailed a finger below the delicate fabric of her bra – couldn't believe Dr. Temperance Brennan _owned_ a lacy red bra – couldn't fathom why, after days (_months, _said a tiny voice in his head) of fantasies where he threw her down on her office desk, trapped her below him in the back seat of his official FBI SUV, or took her hard and fast up against one of the walls in the lab, suddenly all he wanted was to be slow and gentle and make this last forever. Perhaps it was the fear that one time might be all he ever got, this one chance to show her that whatever it was they had together, he didn't want it to end, either.

_Bliss. Absolute bliss_, thought Brennan as Booth rolled off momentarily so they could both remove their jeans, then pulled her close with one hand while the other slid down the length of her back. She arched against his touch, feeling his arousal pressed against her, and from that moment on it was a blur of sweet caresses and murmured words and finally, finally, the release they had both been craving for so long.

And the last thing Booth remembered before he fell into a warm, peaceful slumber for the first time in days was Brennan's voice, muffled a little because her head was pillowed on his chest and his arm was holding her protectively, saying something that sounded suspiciously like, "Does this mean I get a gun now?"

-

**A/N: **It's not a new episode of Bones, but I hope it makes your week a little better, and that no one vomited on you at work today (some of us were not so lucky). Two more chapters to go... -tc


	14. An Answer

**A/N: **This is the last 'real chapter'. I should have the epilogue up before the season finale. How is it May already? -tc

-

Waking sometime later in the night,Temperance snuggled back a little farther against Booth's chest and turned her head so she could nuzzle against his neck. One of his hands was in her hair, combing absently through the soft waves, and the other traced delicate circles across her bare stomach.

"Hi," she said drowsily.

"Hi yourself," Booth replied, continuing his gentle exploration of her body. Tempe smiled and closed her eyes, savoring the sensation.

"Hey Bones?" he murmured into her hair.

"Mmmm?" She was too sleepy, too happy, too everything to comment on the nickname.

"How come you have your belly button pierced? I mean, I know how you feel about plastic surgery, and I just figured that applied to, you know, any form of ... physical modification."

He felt her lips curve into a smile against his throat. "You know, Booth, in many cultures piercing isn't simply a decorative practice. It can be a right of passage into adulthood, an emblem of prestige or nobility within a society, or even a commemoration of victory in battle. What we think of as mere jewelry can have cultural significance that dates back thousands of years."

He leaned back so he could look her in the eye and gave her a roguish grin. "Angela made you do it, didn't she?"

Brennan laughed, and Booth could feel the tremor in her body against his stomach. "You know me too well."

He planted a soft kiss on her forehead, and Temperance turned back to bury her head in a pillow so he couldn't see the shock she knew must be all over her face. He _did_ know her. This man she had only really known for a little under a year, who had infuriated her, pushed her around, challenged her, danced with her, dried her tears, trusted her with his son, and made love to her, somehow knew her in a way she barely knew herself. Angela had said as much, but now, lying naked against him, it finally seemed real. Brennan braced herself for the wave of fear that accompanied this newly discovered vulnerability, but it didn't come. In its place was a kind of quiet giddiness, and a security that she hadn't allowed herself to hope for in years. In the midst of her realization, she felt Booth's arm slide around her shoulders, and his fingers slipped into hers, linking their hands on the pillow.

"Seeley?"

He wondered whether she could feel the thrill of pleasure that rocketed through his skin at the sound of her voice.

"Mmm-hmm?"

"Why didn't you marry Parker's mother?"

He was silent for a moment, and his right hand began again to brush her stomach. "I wanted to. She refused. She was... angry that I put the job before her, before the rest of my life. She thought I could never love our child as much as I loved my work. And I think she was scared, too. She never wanted to get that phone call saying I was never coming back."

_I know how she felt_. Tempe clutched Booth's fingers a little tighter. "So why didn't you tell her what you told me tonight? That even when the worst happens, the good days can never be taken away?"

He nuzzled the top of her head. "I tried to. She said it wasn't worth it. I wasn't worth it. Some days... I wonder if she's right."

"She isn't."

"What makes you so sure?"

"I just know."

He smiled at the quiet conviction in her voice. "That wouldn't be gut instinct, would it?"

"No." Tempe knew he was teasing her, and rolled over to tug swat him playfully. He responded with a kiss, and she let her fingers run through his hair before continuing. "I know she's wrong because I've been there. I lost people I loved, and it was terrible – it's still terrible – but you're right. It doesn't mean I should shut out the chance for happiness just because the bad sometimes comes with the good. In the time they had, my parents gave me a wonderful childhood. You're giving Parker a wonderful childhood. And... you've given me something wonderful, too. I know that every day I'm with you might be the last day I ever see you. And I'm not... I'm not saying I'm _okay_ with that; it's not something you can be _okay_ with. But I accept it. And you're right. We can't stop bad things from happening to the people we l- well, who are close to us. So we should do our best to make as many good things as possible happen."

"So this – us - is a good thing?" He'd noticed when she caught herself, wondered whether she was feeling what he now knew he couldn't deny, and decided not to press the issue. There would be time for declarations of love later.

"It's a very good thing." She smiled then, wide and bright.

"Good." He grinned, then kissed her, slow and soft. If Seeley Booth got his way – and he usually did – there would be quite a few good things to come in Temperance Brennan's life.

-

**A/N: **I dedicate this chapter to anyone who's ever gotten 'that phone call.' Here's to the good memories, and the good things yet to come.


	15. Epilogue: A Secret

**A/N: **I'm literally tearing up a bit as I type this - I can't believe this is the last chapter. It seems only fitting that I'm posting it on Mother's Day. I dedicate this final section to my mother - I don't know whether it was instinct or just hard work, but she sure did a great job with us. Love you, Mommy. Enjoy. : ) -tc

-

Dr. Temperance Brennan arrived at the Jeffersonian Institute just in time to hear her second-favorite sound in the world. Parker's sneakers squeaked across the lab floor and he dove into her arms. "Dr. Bones, Dr. Bones, I missed you so much!"

Temperance laughed and scooped the five-year-old (_five and a half_, she reminded herself) into an affectionate embrace. "I missed you too, Dr. Parker. Are you all ready for our milkshake date?"

He nodded enthusiastically, then squirmed around so he could whisper an entreaty in her ear. She smiled, accustomed to the request, and released him before lifting up the bottom of her shirt. Parker examined the diamond stud in her navel, then gave her an exuberant grin. "It's just like the ring Daddy gave you!"

Brennan's eyes glowed and she bent to plant a kiss on his forehead, brushing back his sandy hair with a hand that wore an elegant princess-cut solitaire. Across Parker's head, she met her fiancé's eyes and grinned.

Agent Seeley Booth, coffee in hand, advanced from her office, where he had been leaning casually against the door frame, watching the two people he loved most in the world. "Hey, beautiful," he said with a grin, pressing a kiss to her temple. "How was the doctor's appointment?"

"Hey, yourself," she replied, turning to nuzzle against his chin. "Missed you this morning."

"I know, I had to pick up this guy from his mom's place." Booth captured his son under one arm and held him upside-down until he screamed for Brennan to rescue him - which she did, after only a few minutes of tickling.

When Parker was on his feet again, Brennan knelt at his side and whispered into his ear. Booth wondered whether he would ever tire of seeing them together as he watched his son's skeptical expression; clearly, the boy was torn between his unwavering belief in anything Dr. Bones said and the implausibility of whatever secret she had just shared. Seeley figured loyalty would win in the end; Parker would do anything for his favorite forensic anthropologist - a trait that seemed to run in the Booth family.

Parker whispered a request to Dr. Brennan, who smiled and lifted the edge of her top for further examination. Booth watched his son scrutinize the jewel adorning Tempe's smooth, flat stomach, then lift his face to Brennan's, clearly still unsure about whatever body-piercing factoid she had divulged. "Tell your daddy and see what he thinks," she suggested.

Parker looked up at his father. "Daddy," he said. "Dr. Bones says she has a baby in her tummy. Is that true?"

-

Angela, vainly attempting to eavesdrop from the cover of her office, heard the _thud_ and _splash_ of Booth's coffee cup hitting the ground. Peeking out, she saw the FBI agent staring into Brennan's eyes, his hands framing her face. Angela couldn't hear the words, but her best friend wore a shy smile, and there were tears running down both of their faces. Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw Booth lay a gentle hand over Temperance's abdomen, then attempt to sweep both fiancée and son into his arms and twirl them around the lab.

-

"A baby?" Booth staggered forward, coffee spill unnoticed, and slipped his hands around Brennan's face. Her eyes were wide and uncertain, but the hesitant smile threatening to break across her face told him everything he needed to know.

"I know it's earlier than we thought, but the wedding's only a month away, and the doctor said I probably won't even be showing by then, and I didn't know if I should tell you right away, or if it would be okay if I told Parker, but then I just-"

He silenced her words with a gentle finger on her lips, and she noticed for the first time that he was crying, and that her own cheeks were warm with tears. Booth slid a hand tenderly across her stomach, then used the other to bring her mouth to his in a deep, lingering kiss. When he pulled back, then were both grinning. "I love you, Temperance," he said. "Every day, every moment, more than I ever thought possible. And now I have one more person to love."

She jumped into his arms with an un-Brennan-like squeal, and he lifted up his son, and they were all spinning in a whirl of tears and laughter. The last thing Angela heard before she sprinted to Hodgins's office to spread the news was Parker's innocent voice asking, "But Daddy, how did the baby _get_ in there?", to which Temperance replied, "Parker, I think it's time to go get those milkshakes."

Booth just laughed and kissed them both. "See, Bones," he said, "I knew you would make a great mother."

**FIN**

-

**One last author's note... **(warning: it's really long)

So not counting the oneshots I've published since I started and some vague Sailor Moon craziness back in the seventh grade, this is my first fanfic ever. I couldn't have imagined how much I would love this genre. Trying to explain it to outsiders is tough, but here's what I've said to my mom: I love the challenge of established characters and backstory. It can be frustrating at times, because Brennan and Booth don't always get to say what _I_ would say in the situation, and sometimes even the cutest lines ever have to be deleted because they just don't ring true. But I think that the end result is more satisfying and brings a unity and clarity that I don't always achieve in my other work. Conversely, I love not having to take everything TOO seriously. I want to put in giraffes for no reason? Sure, why not. Zack is afraid of Chuck E. Cheese's? It could happen. It's funny, looking back, how much of the details of this story are autobiographical, even though the events have nothing to do with my life. So I suppose the real challenge is in finding the balance between absolute adherence to the Bones-verse and having a very, very silly time at my keyboard.

So why this particular story? I mean, besides the fact that I am a huge sap. Although I generally see myself as a Brennan – I tend to intellectualize everything, I don't like to be taken care of, I have a very limited social life – in this story, I'm really Booth. I love kids. I work with them every day and I know that I want to have some of my own someday. It's one of my few non-negotiables in a relationship. I felt that this was also a critical issue for B&B's relationship – as much chemistry as they have, there is also a deep friendship and mutual respect. Neither one could pursue a commitment knowing that this issue was unresolved – each cares about the other too much to settle for a one-night stand or to think that he or she can just get his/her way in the end just by being stubborn. They needed a catalyst, a way for Brennan to see that parenting might be okay after all, and for Booth to realize that her trepidation goes beyond simply "not being good with kids" and to understand how desperately he wants to find a way to make a shared life work.

Parker was the perfect solution, and also, SO much fun to write. Since I have three younger siblings, nineteen younger cousins, and have worked in child care for three years, I had ample inspiration. I wrote much of this story at work, in the break room or sitting against the wall while my kids napped. The rest was done in the middle of the night when I should have been sleeping, on the 163 NJ Transit bus in traffic, at Barnes & Noble in Hoboken, and at my best friend's house in PA. When I started, I figured it would be something like 5 chapters, a few thousand words, all published in 2 weeks perhaps. HAHAHA. Apparently not. Work, sleep, out-of-town weekends, and writer's block got in the way, plus, this thing seriously took on a life of its own.

I need to say thank you so, so, so much to everyone who sent me reviews and messages. I was truly touched by your words and loved learning more about those who've enjoyed my work. And to the lurkers who read and enjoyed in anonymity, that's cool, too. SERIOUSLY. You know I don't hold chapters hostage for reviews. I figure not everyone is comfortable with the immediacy of this publishing medium, and I respect that. If you happen to be so inclined, I would love to know what your favorite part (line? scene?) of this story has been. Alternatively, you can reciprocate by writing your own fic for me to enjoy.

Speaking of other fics, I think I need to take a break for a bit. Besides the missing zoo chapter and a sequel to one of my oneshots (yes, for once I am succumbing to review pressure), I don't have any specific plans to write another Bones story for a while. I need to do some work on my actual novel, in hopes of getting paid to do this one day. Of course, the muses have their own agendas, so who knows?

One more time... THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for reading. I hope you enjoyed it even half as much as I did.

Love,

tc


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